I know that I´m getting pretty bad at this updating the blog thing. It really has to do with the fact that I spend less time at the University this semester than I did last semester. My classes this semester (which I´ve finally settled on) are actually closer together, so I don´t have as much down time to spend in the labs waiting for my next class to start. So I apologize for not updating very often. I´ll try to do better.
Meanwhile, not much has changed here in the last week. I am still thrilled about getting Conceptos Fundamentales passed to count as Western Civilization back at school. I finally decided which classes, exactly, I am taking this semester even though it is the 4th week of class and midterms are only 2 weeks away. I went out both Friday and Saturday night for about an hour or so against my will, and didn´t drink at all. I´m trying not to spend any money at all on anything but school stuff or my trip to Madrid or my trip to Ireland. I finally booked my flight to Ireland (for April) and am excited that two of my friends who are also BCA year students will be going as well. I´m also excited that I talked Brandon into coming down from Northern Ireland that weekend to visit Dublin with my friends and me. It should be really really fun!!! That´s about it... like I´ve said before, life here is pretty normal and routine once the semester and classes start.
Okay, one quick thing... my host parents´ youngest granddaughter is staying with us for a couple of days and she is only about a year old... I think she is actually about 9 or 10 months. Her name is Ana, and she is absolutely adorable!!!! She came over Sunday night and is with us until Wednesday evening... It has just been so much fun to have her in the house and to get to play babysitter for her! This morning she crawled all the way to my room and just started smiling and laughing when she saw me once she got there. It was so cute!! So yeah, it was a fun way to start my day, with the smiles and laughter of a beautiful little girl. I´m going to be kind of sad when she leaves on Wednesday!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Eventful Week
After an eventful week full of two 21st birthday celebrations, a Valentine´s Day emotional breakdown that had nothing to do with boys or love, and a really wonderful email from a friend at home, I am doing pretty well.
Last Tuesday was Trisha´s birthday and we went to Hardrock Cafe to eat dinner. Afterwards we went to our favorite Irish pub and enjoyed chatting with the bartender. Around 2, when the bar closed and I was ready to go home, two of the girls had met a couple of guys in the bar who wanted to go somewhere else. So, we loaded up in taxis and headed to a discoteca called "Up and Down". One of the girls had thought ahead and already put our names on the list, so we got in for free, which was very nice. Since I don´t dance, I enjoyed people watching and taking incriminating photos of all of the other girls! Finally, around 4:30 we decided it was time to leave... and about an hour later I finally got home. It was a good night, but I would prefer not to stay out so late again on a weeknight.
Thursday was Valentine´s Day and it was fine... until the afternoon when I found out that the grant I´m trying to get for the summer may not even be worth it because the organization I want to do research for already got a grant to have a summer intern. I also realized that two of the classes I was going to take to count for General Education requirements that I need won´t work. And I was just super emotional for some reason... So, after my last class, I went home and had dinner and then retired to my room. For some reason, I just had a meltdown and had to talk to my mom. So, I called her at work... Imagine, my mom coworker tells her she has a phone call from her daughter in Spain while she is in the middle of working with a customer (she works at a bank). She sort of freaked out, picked up the phone and said "What´s wrong, are you okay?" I told her I was fine, but I just wanted her to call me when she got home from work because I just needed someone to talk to. She still sounded like she thought something was really wrong, but promised to call. She did call, about an hour and a half later, and even though we just talked for an hour and nothing changed, I felt SOOOO much better, like everything was fixed. I don´t know how moms have the power to fix everything without even doing anything, but I love it. So, I made it through Thursday with the help of my lovely mother.
Then came the weekend, and Melania wanted to celebrate her 21st since it was on Monday (yesterday). So, we went out to a bar where they sold drinks in 1 liter, 2 liters, 6 liters, or 13 liters. It was a pretty fun place, but I didn´t really feel like drinking anything. So I sort of just stood around and tried to avoid as much smoke as possible. (You have to remember that I am still dealing with my sinus and allergy problems, so the smoke was not helping me breathe and get better at all.) Around 2:30 we left with a huge group of Americans who were friends with one of the girls we went out with. They all wanted to go to a discoteca called "Elephant", but they didn´t have any idea how to get there. At this point, I decided I was ready to go home... and so Trisha and Melania said they would leave too. I sort of felt bad about cutting Melania´s birthday celebration short, but I needed to get away from the smoke and just get into my bed.
Which leads us to yesterday night when we actually went out to dinner to celebrate Melania´s birthday. We went to a Catalan tapas restaurant, and had a really great time. I tried Cava sangria, which is about a thousand times better than regular sangria. We had a dinner of a bunch of different tapas, and it was perfect. Afterwards, I headed home and was in bed by midnight.
So now it is Tuesday and I am getting ready for my first Catalan class of the semester. I think I have officially figured out which classes I´ll be taking, and though I´m a little dissapointed that I won´t be getting as many of my gen eds out of the way as I´d like, I think everything will work out. I´m happy that all of the classes are actually starting and I´ll get into my normal routine. All of the stuff for the summer will work itself out, and I´m confident that God will place me where He needs me, so I´m not worrying as much about that anymore. And I got a wonderful email out of nowhere yesterday from one of my friends who I´ve known forever and haven´t talked to in a long time. So everything is fine, life is good, and I am enjoying getting to know all sorts of new people. Anywho, I need to head out so I´m not late to Catalan.. I hope all is good in your lives, and please just keep praying that He leads me and that I´ll follow so that I´ll end up where I´m supposed to be this summer.
Last Tuesday was Trisha´s birthday and we went to Hardrock Cafe to eat dinner. Afterwards we went to our favorite Irish pub and enjoyed chatting with the bartender. Around 2, when the bar closed and I was ready to go home, two of the girls had met a couple of guys in the bar who wanted to go somewhere else. So, we loaded up in taxis and headed to a discoteca called "Up and Down". One of the girls had thought ahead and already put our names on the list, so we got in for free, which was very nice. Since I don´t dance, I enjoyed people watching and taking incriminating photos of all of the other girls! Finally, around 4:30 we decided it was time to leave... and about an hour later I finally got home. It was a good night, but I would prefer not to stay out so late again on a weeknight.
Thursday was Valentine´s Day and it was fine... until the afternoon when I found out that the grant I´m trying to get for the summer may not even be worth it because the organization I want to do research for already got a grant to have a summer intern. I also realized that two of the classes I was going to take to count for General Education requirements that I need won´t work. And I was just super emotional for some reason... So, after my last class, I went home and had dinner and then retired to my room. For some reason, I just had a meltdown and had to talk to my mom. So, I called her at work... Imagine, my mom coworker tells her she has a phone call from her daughter in Spain while she is in the middle of working with a customer (she works at a bank). She sort of freaked out, picked up the phone and said "What´s wrong, are you okay?" I told her I was fine, but I just wanted her to call me when she got home from work because I just needed someone to talk to. She still sounded like she thought something was really wrong, but promised to call. She did call, about an hour and a half later, and even though we just talked for an hour and nothing changed, I felt SOOOO much better, like everything was fixed. I don´t know how moms have the power to fix everything without even doing anything, but I love it. So, I made it through Thursday with the help of my lovely mother.
Then came the weekend, and Melania wanted to celebrate her 21st since it was on Monday (yesterday). So, we went out to a bar where they sold drinks in 1 liter, 2 liters, 6 liters, or 13 liters. It was a pretty fun place, but I didn´t really feel like drinking anything. So I sort of just stood around and tried to avoid as much smoke as possible. (You have to remember that I am still dealing with my sinus and allergy problems, so the smoke was not helping me breathe and get better at all.) Around 2:30 we left with a huge group of Americans who were friends with one of the girls we went out with. They all wanted to go to a discoteca called "Elephant", but they didn´t have any idea how to get there. At this point, I decided I was ready to go home... and so Trisha and Melania said they would leave too. I sort of felt bad about cutting Melania´s birthday celebration short, but I needed to get away from the smoke and just get into my bed.
Which leads us to yesterday night when we actually went out to dinner to celebrate Melania´s birthday. We went to a Catalan tapas restaurant, and had a really great time. I tried Cava sangria, which is about a thousand times better than regular sangria. We had a dinner of a bunch of different tapas, and it was perfect. Afterwards, I headed home and was in bed by midnight.
So now it is Tuesday and I am getting ready for my first Catalan class of the semester. I think I have officially figured out which classes I´ll be taking, and though I´m a little dissapointed that I won´t be getting as many of my gen eds out of the way as I´d like, I think everything will work out. I´m happy that all of the classes are actually starting and I´ll get into my normal routine. All of the stuff for the summer will work itself out, and I´m confident that God will place me where He needs me, so I´m not worrying as much about that anymore. And I got a wonderful email out of nowhere yesterday from one of my friends who I´ve known forever and haven´t talked to in a long time. So everything is fine, life is good, and I am enjoying getting to know all sorts of new people. Anywho, I need to head out so I´m not late to Catalan.. I hope all is good in your lives, and please just keep praying that He leads me and that I´ll follow so that I´ll end up where I´m supposed to be this summer.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Week two of classes...
Well, it is officially the second week of school and I have still only been to two of my classes, which actually only means one. See, I went to this one literature class last week and decided I didn´t like it and was going to take this other one which I have yet to go to, but another one of the year long BCA students is taking it too. So, that means out of my 5 classes, I´ve been to 1 of them. Tomorrow the classes in the Geografía y Historia building begin, meaning I´ll go to the first of two of my classes, and then Catalan starts next week. I´m really not excited about any of them starting, but I guess I feel like the sooner they start, the sooner they will end. Like I´ve said before, it isn´t that I don´t like being here in Barcelona. I actually really enjoy living here. It is just that I don´t like the classes and their subjects... I´m no good at History and Literature and all that stuff... plus you add the whole "they are taught in Spanish" part on top of it, and I am REALLY not good at it!! So, needless to say, I will be happy to be back on campus next Fall taking classes in English and at least one Psych course.... Anyway, other than that, there isn´t too much going on here. I am still a little sick, but it is basically allergies. Once Barcelona picks a temperature and sticks with it, my body will be very happy. Oh, and today is Trisha´s 21st birthday, so we are going out to dinner to celebrate. That´s about it right now. Hope you are all doing well... when something exciting happens in my life, I´ll be sure to let you know!
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Ouch...
Yes, ouch... my head hurts, my throat hurts, and pretty much my entire body hurts. I´m thinking I just have sinus problems again, but I´m tired of it! And the whole body ache has been a signal of the flu or a cold coming on in the past... So, hopefully a restfull weekend will rejuvinate me and I´ll be back to healthy again by Monday. I don´t have much else to say besides the fact that I´m tired of trying to figure out which classes to take... I´ll figure it out eventually, though. And meanwhile I´ll try to get healthy.
Also, I´m not eating sweets until Easter. This is something I do pretty much every year during Lent, usually just because it gives me an excuse to detox my body for a while. But this year I am also adding in at least a 30 minute Bible reading/study time every day. I´ve tried doing this at school, but I always seem to fail because I´m so incredibly busy. So, hopefully I´ll start the habit now and continue it on once I get home! Alright, that´s all for today. Please pray that I don´t get more sick and that I get better soonerish rather than later! Hope things are going well with all of you.
Also, I´m not eating sweets until Easter. This is something I do pretty much every year during Lent, usually just because it gives me an excuse to detox my body for a while. But this year I am also adding in at least a 30 minute Bible reading/study time every day. I´ve tried doing this at school, but I always seem to fail because I´m so incredibly busy. So, hopefully I´ll start the habit now and continue it on once I get home! Alright, that´s all for today. Please pray that I don´t get more sick and that I get better soonerish rather than later! Hope things are going well with all of you.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Classes, applications, new students and all that fun stuff!
Well, it is the second day of classes and I am slightly stressed. I still have no idea which classes I am actually taking, and I've only been to one so far. If I go with the classes I would "like" (meaning I need to take and these are those that are higher on my list of options) to take, then I'll have 1 class on Mondays, 3 on Tuesdays, 1 on Wednesdays, 4 on Thursdays, and 1 on Fridays. I could possibly take a different lit course and have 2, 2, 2, 3, and 1, but that still means I'll have class on Friday and I don't want to take the Lit class alone since it is a University course and I'm scared!!! Plus, the director of BCA isn't really being very helpful at the moment because she keeps telling me that it will be no problem to get anything approved as my gen eds... but the responses I am getting from the school are that things aren't really going to count for the gen eds I need. It is just really super frustrating because I had my whole schedule worked out so that I can do a full time field placement next Spring, but it looks as though it might not work out that way and I'll be taking classes and only doing a part time field placement. Needless to say, I will be very happy when I hear back from the school officially and know what each class counts for so I can finalize my schedule here.
I have decided that I would like to pursue the research that I originally wanted to do this summer. Not only do I need more research experience before applying to grad schools, but I also truly believe that doing this research for ECR (the non-profit organization I interned for last summer) will really benefit them and in turn help the community. So, I am in the process of trying to find grants that will fund me to do this research since I definitely need to make some money this summer after a whole year of not working. Luckily, I received two replies from two wonderful professors at my school who said they would be happy to be my references on one of the applications. I also got a suggestion from another professor to ask one of my professors to apply for a student/professor collaboration grant, which I hadn't thought about before. So I sent that email out and am waiting for a reply. Along with thinking about this summer comes thinking about next fall and the whole RA thing... so I got an email today saying that it is fine for me to apply to be an RA and do a phone interview, which is great. Now I just have to find out the same information about the Senior RA position and get moving on that as well... There is just so much to do!!! Plus, as soon as I return from Spain, I'll need to start moving on grad school applications to high application fees and take advantage of early acceptance possibilities, which means my summer is going to be sooooo fun!!!! Haha, it really isn't as bad as it all sounds, it is kind of exciting to know that there is so much going on and so many opportunities. However, when I look at them all together like this, it begins to get a little overwhelming. So, I'm going to try taking everything one step at a time and just apply as things come. Luckily I have a supportive staff at Manchester and super supportive parents who have helped me along every step of the way.
Meanwhile, things in Barcelona are pretty good. I've met a few of the new semester students, one of which goes to Manchester! She had no idea there was another student from Manchester already here and I had no idea she was coming! It's pretty exciting to see things up and running again and to reunite with the other 4 year-long students who all went home for Christmas. I know this semester will be different, and I'm not yet sure how it will unfold, but I'm excited about watching it happen! Now, if I could only figure out the whole class thing....
I have decided that I would like to pursue the research that I originally wanted to do this summer. Not only do I need more research experience before applying to grad schools, but I also truly believe that doing this research for ECR (the non-profit organization I interned for last summer) will really benefit them and in turn help the community. So, I am in the process of trying to find grants that will fund me to do this research since I definitely need to make some money this summer after a whole year of not working. Luckily, I received two replies from two wonderful professors at my school who said they would be happy to be my references on one of the applications. I also got a suggestion from another professor to ask one of my professors to apply for a student/professor collaboration grant, which I hadn't thought about before. So I sent that email out and am waiting for a reply. Along with thinking about this summer comes thinking about next fall and the whole RA thing... so I got an email today saying that it is fine for me to apply to be an RA and do a phone interview, which is great. Now I just have to find out the same information about the Senior RA position and get moving on that as well... There is just so much to do!!! Plus, as soon as I return from Spain, I'll need to start moving on grad school applications to high application fees and take advantage of early acceptance possibilities, which means my summer is going to be sooooo fun!!!! Haha, it really isn't as bad as it all sounds, it is kind of exciting to know that there is so much going on and so many opportunities. However, when I look at them all together like this, it begins to get a little overwhelming. So, I'm going to try taking everything one step at a time and just apply as things come. Luckily I have a supportive staff at Manchester and super supportive parents who have helped me along every step of the way.
Meanwhile, things in Barcelona are pretty good. I've met a few of the new semester students, one of which goes to Manchester! She had no idea there was another student from Manchester already here and I had no idea she was coming! It's pretty exciting to see things up and running again and to reunite with the other 4 year-long students who all went home for Christmas. I know this semester will be different, and I'm not yet sure how it will unfold, but I'm excited about watching it happen! Now, if I could only figure out the whole class thing....
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Really Long Update!!
WARNING: THIS IS A VERY LONG UPDATE!!! READ IN SEGMENTS IF YOU WISH SO NOT TO WARE YOUR EYES OUT!!!
I am alive!!! I am back!!! I know, it has been quite a while since I've written on here... which was not the plan at the beginning of my travels. But the last few cities I went to had very limited internet and I couldn't get enough time on a computer to actually write on here. So, let me give you a summary of my trip since Budapest.
Budapest: I did not get arrested or fined or anything, but was VERY happy when I successfully made it through the metro to the train station to leave without being stopped by one ticket inspector, though I saw at least 12 of them checking others.
Munich: My hostel was very close to the train station, so I did not have to worry about any sort of metro or bus or ticket inspectors or anything, which was a huge relief. I saw most of the old town on my first full day and visited Olympiapark on my second day. Even though Olympiapark was quite a ways from my hostel, the weather was absolutely beautiful and I decided to walk there so that I could see more of the city. My walk was really great because I had a long talk with God, and it was wonderful. Later on, my last night in the hostel, I began chatting with two Brazilian girls and an Austrailian boy who were traveling together. They told me that I didn't have a choice and that I was going to go out with them. So, I had a really fun time going out and talking with them until about 2 in the morning. I had one beer (the first alcoholic beverage on this entire trip), and it was one that was actually brewed in Munich. I really liked it and would have loved to take or send one home to my parents because I think they would have liked it as well. Anyway, it was just a fun way to end my time in Munich. I got up the next morning and was on my 11 hour train ride to Rome by 9:30.
Rome: What a wonderful city! Well.. sort of. My first impression of Rome was not a really great one because I got there around 8:30 PM and had to walk to my hostel from the train station. It wasn't a really far walk, but I did have a few guys following me and had to step over a few people laying on the ground to get to the door of my hostel. I noticed that there was also a woman there every night sort of working that corner as well... But, my hostel really was in a fantastic location and actually very safe. I ended up having my own room all three nights there because there were only a few of us staying there. One of the other people staying there was a woman named Sheri, who was from Hawaii! She was an artist and getting ready to start studying art for a semester in Florence, but was doing a little traveling before orientation. Because we were both traveling alone and didn't like going out at night by ourselves, we decided to go out together. So, one night she and I cooked ourselves a delicious dinner and then went out and found a place to get desserts. Another night we decided to try and go to the "night spot of the town," which one of the hostel workers had told us about. We got on the right bus, but didn't know which stop to get off at, so we rode all the way to the end of the line and walked around in the middle of nowhere until we found a large grocery store. We went in and walked around for a bit, made a small purchase of chocolate and feminine hygeine products and then got back on the bus and made our way back to the hostel. It was pretty fun to have someone to do something with both nights I was there. Anywho, I did see all the sights and was completely in awe of seeing everything in real life rather than just in pictures. I spent my first full day seeing the ruins, coliseum, pantheon, and a bunch of other amazing buildings that I stumbled upon. My second day was spent entirely in Vatican city visiting the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, and Saint Peter's Basilica. It was an incredibly exciting but also incredibly exhausting day. I climbed to the top of the Basilica and had an amazing view of Rome. I walked through almost the entirety of the Vatican Museums, and was completely emotionally wasted by the time I got to the end and saw the Sistene Chapel. I would definitely love to go back sometime in my life because I know I missed so much, but it is just impossible to experience the entirety of the Vatican City in one day... sort of reminded me of trying to see all of the Louvre in Paris in a couple of hours...
Venice: I left Rome at about 9:00 in the morning on the 24th to head to Venice. The train ride was absolutely beautiful because we went through all of the mountains in Italy. I remembered on the train that I had booked a hostel on Mestre, the mainland, rather than actually on the Venezia island when I made my reservations because of Carnaval (catalan spelling) and the ridiculous prices of the other hostels. So, when I got to the Mestre train station, I got off and began following my directions, which were VERY specific. Finally, after about a 10 minute walk through an underground tunnel, a side street, and an alley behind a gas station, I found my hostel which actually turned out to be a hotel that offered a few "shared" rooms. The first night I had three other people in the room with me who I never met because they got back (and turned on the lights and made a lot of noise) at about 1 in the morning, and then their alarm went off at 5:45 and they again turned on the lights and left by 7. Luckily I didn't have hostelmates like this along all of my travels or else I would have been one frumpy person. Anywho, I only had one whole day in Venice and left around 8:30 to catch the 1 euro, 10 minute train ride into Venice. For the most part, I got completely lost as soon as I tried to follow my map and realized that I saw much more of what Venice actually was this way. So, the entirety of my day was spent walking around looking for nothing in particular and taking a few pictures. I ate some delicious pizza, bought a really beautiful mask from a maskmaker in his shop after talking to him for a long time and watching him work, found an awesome free museum exhibit with classical music and string instruments from hundreds of years ago, bought some gifts for my family and host parents, and realized that it was beginning to get dark and that I didn't want to have to walk down that alleyway when there was no light. It was really a wonderful day, and it was fun to see all of the excitement about the beginning of Carnaval. Later that night I ended up going against what I usually do and walking down scary streets in the dark to find something to eat. I ended up buying a whole pizza for 4.50 euros and taking it back with me. I offered some to the front desk worker, but she didn't want any... so I proceded to eat 5 of the 8 pieces for dinner and the other 3 for breakfast very early in the morning. Nothing better than that!!!
Geneva: Who knew it was so expensive?!?! And why didn't you warn me?!? It all turned out fine, though. Basically, I didn't do a whole lot of touristing in Geneva because a friend met me there and we spent a lot of time just chatting and wandering around. We played checkers on a giant board painted on the ground where we used our feet to hold the checkers to jump eachother. We posed with statues. We went ice skating for 2 and a half hours. It was wonderful!!! So, besides everything being totally expensive in Geneva, I tried my first Toblerone bar ever and fell in love. I got to catch up with a friend, and we met some pretty aweosme girls in our hostel room (one from South Korea and another from Poland). OH!!!! And I saw the most BEAUTIFUL castle in the middle of the Swiss mountains on the train ride from Venice to Geneva.... I couldn't have asked for a better few days!!!
And now I am back here. My friend came back to Barcelona with me and just left this morning, which is why I haven't really had a chance to write until now. We had a good time just talking and spending time together. We did a lot with another one of my friends who studies here with me.. Shopping was one of those things, and now that we are at the end of January, the sales are AMAZING!!! So, my super cute Diesel tennis shoes cost me 19.90 euro. I got a really nice shirt for 1.95 euro, and a wonderfully warm brown sweater for 5.95 euro.... What a successful shopping trip! Now, however, I am totally exhausted and need to catch up on my sleep before classes start on Monday. SO, I am sorry this is so long, but I wanted you to be all updated. I'll try and write again soon, and hopefully it won't be such a novel next time!!!
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts while I was on my trip. And thank you to those of you who were worried about me when I hadn't updated this for two weeks. I love and miss you all!!!
I am alive!!! I am back!!! I know, it has been quite a while since I've written on here... which was not the plan at the beginning of my travels. But the last few cities I went to had very limited internet and I couldn't get enough time on a computer to actually write on here. So, let me give you a summary of my trip since Budapest.
Budapest: I did not get arrested or fined or anything, but was VERY happy when I successfully made it through the metro to the train station to leave without being stopped by one ticket inspector, though I saw at least 12 of them checking others.
Munich: My hostel was very close to the train station, so I did not have to worry about any sort of metro or bus or ticket inspectors or anything, which was a huge relief. I saw most of the old town on my first full day and visited Olympiapark on my second day. Even though Olympiapark was quite a ways from my hostel, the weather was absolutely beautiful and I decided to walk there so that I could see more of the city. My walk was really great because I had a long talk with God, and it was wonderful. Later on, my last night in the hostel, I began chatting with two Brazilian girls and an Austrailian boy who were traveling together. They told me that I didn't have a choice and that I was going to go out with them. So, I had a really fun time going out and talking with them until about 2 in the morning. I had one beer (the first alcoholic beverage on this entire trip), and it was one that was actually brewed in Munich. I really liked it and would have loved to take or send one home to my parents because I think they would have liked it as well. Anyway, it was just a fun way to end my time in Munich. I got up the next morning and was on my 11 hour train ride to Rome by 9:30.
Rome: What a wonderful city! Well.. sort of. My first impression of Rome was not a really great one because I got there around 8:30 PM and had to walk to my hostel from the train station. It wasn't a really far walk, but I did have a few guys following me and had to step over a few people laying on the ground to get to the door of my hostel. I noticed that there was also a woman there every night sort of working that corner as well... But, my hostel really was in a fantastic location and actually very safe. I ended up having my own room all three nights there because there were only a few of us staying there. One of the other people staying there was a woman named Sheri, who was from Hawaii! She was an artist and getting ready to start studying art for a semester in Florence, but was doing a little traveling before orientation. Because we were both traveling alone and didn't like going out at night by ourselves, we decided to go out together. So, one night she and I cooked ourselves a delicious dinner and then went out and found a place to get desserts. Another night we decided to try and go to the "night spot of the town," which one of the hostel workers had told us about. We got on the right bus, but didn't know which stop to get off at, so we rode all the way to the end of the line and walked around in the middle of nowhere until we found a large grocery store. We went in and walked around for a bit, made a small purchase of chocolate and feminine hygeine products and then got back on the bus and made our way back to the hostel. It was pretty fun to have someone to do something with both nights I was there. Anywho, I did see all the sights and was completely in awe of seeing everything in real life rather than just in pictures. I spent my first full day seeing the ruins, coliseum, pantheon, and a bunch of other amazing buildings that I stumbled upon. My second day was spent entirely in Vatican city visiting the Vatican Museum, Sistene Chapel, and Saint Peter's Basilica. It was an incredibly exciting but also incredibly exhausting day. I climbed to the top of the Basilica and had an amazing view of Rome. I walked through almost the entirety of the Vatican Museums, and was completely emotionally wasted by the time I got to the end and saw the Sistene Chapel. I would definitely love to go back sometime in my life because I know I missed so much, but it is just impossible to experience the entirety of the Vatican City in one day... sort of reminded me of trying to see all of the Louvre in Paris in a couple of hours...
Venice: I left Rome at about 9:00 in the morning on the 24th to head to Venice. The train ride was absolutely beautiful because we went through all of the mountains in Italy. I remembered on the train that I had booked a hostel on Mestre, the mainland, rather than actually on the Venezia island when I made my reservations because of Carnaval (catalan spelling) and the ridiculous prices of the other hostels. So, when I got to the Mestre train station, I got off and began following my directions, which were VERY specific. Finally, after about a 10 minute walk through an underground tunnel, a side street, and an alley behind a gas station, I found my hostel which actually turned out to be a hotel that offered a few "shared" rooms. The first night I had three other people in the room with me who I never met because they got back (and turned on the lights and made a lot of noise) at about 1 in the morning, and then their alarm went off at 5:45 and they again turned on the lights and left by 7. Luckily I didn't have hostelmates like this along all of my travels or else I would have been one frumpy person. Anywho, I only had one whole day in Venice and left around 8:30 to catch the 1 euro, 10 minute train ride into Venice. For the most part, I got completely lost as soon as I tried to follow my map and realized that I saw much more of what Venice actually was this way. So, the entirety of my day was spent walking around looking for nothing in particular and taking a few pictures. I ate some delicious pizza, bought a really beautiful mask from a maskmaker in his shop after talking to him for a long time and watching him work, found an awesome free museum exhibit with classical music and string instruments from hundreds of years ago, bought some gifts for my family and host parents, and realized that it was beginning to get dark and that I didn't want to have to walk down that alleyway when there was no light. It was really a wonderful day, and it was fun to see all of the excitement about the beginning of Carnaval. Later that night I ended up going against what I usually do and walking down scary streets in the dark to find something to eat. I ended up buying a whole pizza for 4.50 euros and taking it back with me. I offered some to the front desk worker, but she didn't want any... so I proceded to eat 5 of the 8 pieces for dinner and the other 3 for breakfast very early in the morning. Nothing better than that!!!
Geneva: Who knew it was so expensive?!?! And why didn't you warn me?!? It all turned out fine, though. Basically, I didn't do a whole lot of touristing in Geneva because a friend met me there and we spent a lot of time just chatting and wandering around. We played checkers on a giant board painted on the ground where we used our feet to hold the checkers to jump eachother. We posed with statues. We went ice skating for 2 and a half hours. It was wonderful!!! So, besides everything being totally expensive in Geneva, I tried my first Toblerone bar ever and fell in love. I got to catch up with a friend, and we met some pretty aweosme girls in our hostel room (one from South Korea and another from Poland). OH!!!! And I saw the most BEAUTIFUL castle in the middle of the Swiss mountains on the train ride from Venice to Geneva.... I couldn't have asked for a better few days!!!
And now I am back here. My friend came back to Barcelona with me and just left this morning, which is why I haven't really had a chance to write until now. We had a good time just talking and spending time together. We did a lot with another one of my friends who studies here with me.. Shopping was one of those things, and now that we are at the end of January, the sales are AMAZING!!! So, my super cute Diesel tennis shoes cost me 19.90 euro. I got a really nice shirt for 1.95 euro, and a wonderfully warm brown sweater for 5.95 euro.... What a successful shopping trip! Now, however, I am totally exhausted and need to catch up on my sleep before classes start on Monday. SO, I am sorry this is so long, but I wanted you to be all updated. I'll try and write again soon, and hopefully it won't be such a novel next time!!!
Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts while I was on my trip. And thank you to those of you who were worried about me when I hadn't updated this for two weeks. I love and miss you all!!!
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